The Hero Melromarc Needs and Deserves
by lord Martiya
Summary: When the end was nigh, the Kingdom of Melromarc summoned the Four Legendary Heroes: Ren of the Sword, Motoyasu of the Spear, Itsuki of the Bow and Cancer Deathmask of the Shield. Wait, DEATHMASK! This is gonna hurt...
1. What Have They Done to Deserve ME!

This is an idea I've been toying with for a while. Just the usual thing about some manga/anime/whatever character being summoned as the Shield Hero in Naofumi's place... Except this time they get a professional who also happens to be a sociopathic hero _at best_ , and fully conscious of it. Oh, and incredibly hammy. I'm Italian and know _Saint Seiya_ from the Italian dub, so…

 _ **Chapter 1: What Have They Done to Deserve ME?!**_

Sanctuary, 1981.

"What do you mean with "redecorating"?" Aiolia asked his less-favored neighbor.

"Aiolia, have you ever wondered why I keep my trophies in the public area of the Temple? Intimidation for those who dare and violate the Temples, and the Solar Soldiers have the appropriate looks." was the reply of Cancer Deathmask, also known as "the Gold Saint you don't want after you. At least Shaka makes it quick…" due his habit of "decorating" the Temple of the Giant Crab with the souls of his defeated opponents manifested as wailing heads as he put down the Pandora's Box with his Cloth. "That is why I'm here, instead of recovering my apprentice from-"

With that, the impossible happened: Deathmask teleported out of the Twelve Temples, part of the Inner Sanctuary. The one area of the entire planet Earth that, barring freak accidents that the goddess hadn't plugged yet and a single exception, was completely impossible to teleport in or out from without Athena's direct permission.

* * *

Deathmask looked around, checking his new surroundings. He was in a castle room, European Middle Ages-style. The floor under him was decorated with what appeared to be a summoning circle. In the room were some kind of hooded monks or mages and, closer to the Gold Saint, three East-Asian boys wielding a sword, a spear and a bow of matching manufacture, rather similar to the surprisingly small heater shield he found attached to his arm. Considering the strange power he could feel from the shield, that the boys looked surprised under their brave facades, and the one exception in the Inner Sanctuary's teleport ban, he could guess what was about to come.

"Oh Heroes! Please, save our world!"

Just as he thought: summoning spell for heroes from someone in true and desperate need. And while he didn't voice it, Deathmask wondered what had this people (or their rulers) done to deserve HIM. Especially when he had been standing right before Aiolia. As he wondered that, the boys smirked at him and then started interrupting the monks' plea with complaint they had been effectively kidnapped (something he agreed with but would file away for later), demands for compensations, and threats of becoming enemies.

"ENOUGH, YOU CRASS FOOLS!" he shouted. Then he turned to the monks and spoke: "So, you say you're dealing with hordes of monsters you call "Waves of Calamity" and are desperate enough to summon four heroes, correct? Then take us to your leader," gotta love the classics "we, the summoned Heroes, shall discuss the situation with them."

As the four marched to the throne room, Deathmask took the time to check the abilities of his shield. It had been a relatively simple affair, as he only needed to concentrate on the strange symbol at the periphery of his vision and it had appeared in comfortable computer-style spreadsheet (walking around was no trouble for him, he was no Shaka but any Gold Saint could easily move around without the use of their eyes). A powerful magical artifact, or possibly a divine one, it was a powerful defense, and complemented that by increasing his whole body's defensive abilities on a level similar to that of wearing a Bronze Cloth, and by that "level" thing and the unaccessible voices he could easily guess he could easily improve it. Also, the shield, or the summon magic, allowed him to understand the locals, there was an archive of all his future trophies to fill with monsters, and somehow he could see a RPG sheet of his own abilities. On the other hand, parts of the sheet were too blurry to read, the Shield disallowed him from using any other weapon, and going out with the users of the other three Legendary Weapons would have "adverse effects". Not that they could help him much, now, but in the future he could need them and this way he would not be able to make sure they survived their own apparent stupidity long enough to serve at least as human shields, let alone train them into pulling their own weight.

Also, he didn't like his fellow Heroes' attitude, nor the strange looks from the monks and the castle guards (the local ruler's professional soldiers, not militias, judging by the fact they had actual swords and not falchions or other large knives). And he liked the strange sense of familiarity even less: the whole situation reminded him of the old book Aiolia's servant had recently summed up to him in an attempt to get his help to make a RPG out of it, and what he remembered of the local authorities didn't paint them in a good light.

As they arrived in the throne room, king Aultclay Melromarc XXXII wasted no time proving Deathmask's misgivings true with a hateful look to him that he could not hide fast enough and his condescending tone before explaining their situation: according to an ancient prophecy, some "Waves of Destruction" would invade the world in the end times, attacking until nothing remained unless stopped by brave heroes, and as it happened those were the end times. Many had laughed at the prophecy until the Dragon-Engraved Hourglass, said to predict the coming of the Waves, started having its sand fall, and the moment the last grain was down the sky opened up over the kingdom of Melromarc and an army of monsters came out, an army that had been barely stopped by Melromarc's knights and adventurers-and that was when the locals summoned the Four Legendary Heroes.

"All right" one of the other three said "I think I understand where you're coming from. But does that mean you're basically commanding us to help you?"

"Will you just shut up?" Deathmask told him. Then he turned to the king and spoke: "Forgive them, your majesty, but my fellow "heroes"" and that he said making quote signs "are at their fist adventure, and don't know such things work-or that this work under Hospitality rules, with the summoner providing support and the summoned performing a task, namely destroying the monster." he left out that, usually, the only way back home was achieving victory, as he didn't trust them to act smartly on that.

"Yes, yes, it's like you said." the king confirmed, not exactly thrilled at him being the one who knew how this worked. "Legendary Heroes, what are your names?"

As if Deathmask would give them his real name, not when he didn't trusted them as far a toddler could throw the Temple of the Giant Crab. He couldn't use his best known nickname, however, Deathmask had the wrong ring. In the meantime, the other three started speaking:

"My name is Amaki Ren. I am 16 years old, and a high school student." the androginous Sword Hero said.

"All right, I'll go next. My name is Kitamura Motoyasu. I'm 21, and a college student." the handsome Spear Hero said.

"Ok, my turn. I'm Kawasumi Itsuki. I'm 17, and still in high school." the cute Bow Hero said.

Caesar, Cú Chulainn and Odysseus would have been appalled at these guys' foolish trust. Still, Deathmask presented himself too: "You can call me Angelo." and he kept a straight face as he said that. "I'm a professional."

The king looked down at Deathmask before speaking: "Now then. Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki, correct?"

"And Angelo." Deathmask pointed out.

"Ah yes, pardon me, Mr. Angelo."

 _For now only._ Deathmask thought. _Summoning a hero unwillingly already skirts the bonds of Hospitality, should you continue such attitude and I'll act as Zeus with the wicked Phrygians._

After some discussion, during which turned out Ren had been the only other to notice what the locals called "Status Magic" but even he had failed to notice the problems with using other weapons or traveling together, the king promised them that volunteers for the initial parties would be provided the following day, and so the four retired to the room already prepared for them.

 _Author note_

Here's Deathmask's first introduction to Melromarc. To those who don't know _Saint Seiya_ , Cancer Deathmask is one of Athena's Gold Saints, warriors of awesome power with the explicit ability to move at the speed of LIGHT… And just happens to be a collateral damage-insensitive sociopath with an immense body count and that little habit of using the souls of his victims as throphies. And one of those victims happens to be a GOD (specifically a Giant of the Greek myth). Not a powerful one, but he still killed a god. Thankfully, he's still somewhat of a hero in the right circumstances… And now you know why this story is titled "The Hero Melromarc Needs and Deserves".

As for Deathmask referring so much to Hospitality, I just felt that the soldiers of a Greek deity would have a strict code about it, just as the Ancient Greeks themselves-and that it gives Deathmask the excuse to massacre everyone as soon as it's betrayed, should he decide so.


	2. Children of the Everpregnant Mother

First, I'd like to thank the guys at Spacebattles. Without them and their critics, I would have screwed up in this chapter. Now, to the usual notes.

The main theme of this story is that the main difference between Deathmask and the canonical Legendary Heroes, including Naofumi (ESPECIALLY Naofumi. That guy has issues), is that Deathmask is a hero with actual combat experience and training that started early enough he was a Gold Saint at TEN. Poor Deathmask is going to feel surrounded by idiots…

 _ **Chapter 2: Children of the Everpregnant Mother**_

As they reached their room, Deathmask immediately talked to the other three "heroes": "Why those little grins?"

"Well, you know… The game." Ren replied.

Deathmask did not like it. At all. "What game?"

" _Brave Star Online_ , the VRMMO."

"VRMMO? But that's just science fiction!" Motoyasu replied.

Discussion ensued, discussion that ended when Deathmask got annoyed enough to explain what he had deduced: "It is obvious that we come from similar but different worlds at different points in the timeline, ranging from my 1981 to some moment in the 2050s. And that you have loads of experience with games suspiciously similar to this very situation."

"Yes, but what about you?" Itsuki asked.

"Someone pestered me to make an RPG out of a book about this. Also, I fear you're acting like children of the Everpregnant Mother."

"That sounded like an insult…" Motoyasu stated.

"No, that would have been if I said you WERE. But worry not: I may know little of this place, but I have experience with monsters and the likes." As he said that he game them a small demonstration of his abilities by punching through the wall-and, not incidentally at all, the head of a servant that was eavesdropping on them, servant he disintegrated with a casual burst of Cosmo, before repairing the whole thing with telekinesis. "So, I propose an exchange: you answer my questions, and I'll give you some advice on what to do.

After exchanging a look, the three gamers agreed, and answered Deathmask's questions.

"Now, my advice to you." Deathmask said. "First thing, beware the princess: the book I read mentioned her as nothing but trouble, seducing the heroes to try and put them against each other for no explained reason.

"Second, listen to your more experienced party members, they have actual experience here.

"Third, don't count on anything like divine protection. I know how it works, they provide the tools, and sometimes training, and then throw you into the fire." he decided to leave out the amazing amount of training, and the tools for non-combat situations, that Athena saw fit to grant her Saints, as it would ruin his point to the unexperienced guys-assuming they believed him in the first place. "And the tools here are these Legendary Weapons.

"Fourth, clean up your kills. You don't know what could happen if you leave a body around.

"Five, wearing no helmet when you can do so isn't heroic, it's stupid. And no horns, that's a series of misunderstandings too long to explain and the Vikings weren't stupid enough to wear them. In fact, listen to the armorer when you get equipment.

"Six, knives are indispensable tools. Get good ones and learn how to use them.

"Finally, you better find out the international politics of this world."

"International politics?" Ren asked. "But the games-"

"Only had a single nation, I know. But here money has perfectly stable rates between gold, silver and copper coins, and there's little reason for that in the face of changing metal prices other than a monetary union to facilitate trade. Hope they put in more checks than the last attempt on Earth…"

* * *

"Excellent." Deathmask whispered to himself. As soon as the other three had gone to sleep, the Gold Saint had checked if the local afterlife had an entrance akin to his world's Yomotsu Hisaraka… And found it. His favorite attack would work-and he also had his long-distance transportation available. Oh, the fun and potential abuse… "Control yourself, Cancer Saint, you're bound to Sacred Hospitality for now…"

* * *

The following day Deathmask and the three other Heroes went to the throne room to receive their party members. And just as the king announced the party members would choose their Heroes, Deathmask made his announcement: "I'm going out alone."

"What?" the king asked as he recovered from the surprise.

"I have rather particular methods that will likely not work well with those of already experienced adventurers, and I can't exactly ask them to forget all they know, so I'm going out alone." Left unsaid was that Deathmask didn't trust them at all, so he wouldn't give a potential backstabber the excuse to follow him. "Maybe I'll pick up someone I can train my way from ground up…"

"Are you sure, great Hero? Not even a guide?" a young woman among the adventurers asked.

Deathmask looked at her-and immediately realized there WAS a backstabber who had planned to enter his party, and it was none else than the princess-only her would have that body type and try to join a party. And he could have some fun at her.

"I am sure, young lady." he said. "But why are you here? Won't your parents be worried?"

"I am Myne, an adventurer that wants to help save his kingdom."

"No, seriously, why are you here?"

"I don't understand."

"You don't have the muscle tone of an experienced adventurer-or even a beginner. And that armor, let's call it this way, is made more for sex appeal than actual job, something any armorer would have pointed out to a beginner. Honestly, you look more like a little spoiled girl or a working girl than anything." Deathmask noticed that many servants and adventurers were torn between being scandalized and laugh at his words-the princess, who had not noticed she had just being called a prostitute, must have been really popular. The king, on the other hand, was making a superhuman effort to hide his rage at what he had just called his daughter, and the other Heroes were scandalized. Especially Motoyasu.

* * *

It had not taken much to Deathmask to first procure a cloak and then track down the best blacksmith of the capital, and this Elhart definitely knew what he was doing: not only he was clearly a retired adventurer, his works were clearly excellent. He was no armorer, and Athena despised normal weapons as a useless distraction for her chosen Saints, but the non-combat part of his training still gave him enough knowledge to recognize the quality of the swords and tools, mail armor in 6-1 pattern (that he expected to be more expensive than the 4-1 pattern mail nearby), scale and plate armor, and pretty much everything was offered in metals that ranged from simple steel of surprisingly good quality for the local technological level (crucible steel? Who knew, he was no armorer) to enchanted steel and even orichalcum precursor. Still, he knew what to get.

"For now I'll need a shirt of mail with hood, mail pants, and a ridge helmet, ready for modification with cheek guards." he said. "Also, a whetstone."

"No knife?" the blacksmith asked.

In lieu of an answer, Deathmask produced the three utility knives he had on himself when he had been summoned: the standard steel piece that any knife-trained Sanctuary personnel (thus including the Saints) had to keep on themselves or within reach at all times, the custom piece he had bought recently from one of the Sanctuary's blacksmiths, and the orichalcum knife made by a past Sculptor Saint he had inherited from his master.

"A veteran, I see." Elhart commented as he grabbed his customer's choices. "I take the summon didn't let you take the rest of your gear?"

"Exactly. You should see my actual armor, many armorers would give their firstborn for a chance to analyze it." Deathmask confirmed as he took the whetstone-and, noticing the Shield reacting, put it on the Sacred Weapon, letting it absorb it.

"What did just happen?"

"This Shield isn't that good at destroying enemies and keeps me from fighting with weapons, but has quite the potential for support and protection."

The blacksmith gave him an appraisal look, then made a comment: "Too bad for the weapons, that would have given the monsters a sporting chance."

Deathmask was about to reply when the door opened and a familiar voice made itself heard: "YOU!"

"I think I'll need to pay before our spoiled girl makes something that forces the Spear Hero to commit suicide by Shield Hero." Deathmask said to the blacksmith as Motoyasu and his party kept Myne from jumping at him-apparently someone had explained her what he had called her.

After paying, Deathmask left to procure the rest of the supplies-and then deal with the usual problem of such societies.

* * *

"Drop all your money and jewels, and you might survive!" the bandit leader told the cloaked wanderer. Not that they actually planned to spare him, but giving them hope and then destroying it was way funnier.

"I have a better proposal: you bandits tell me where your loot is and I won't torture you before dragging you to the closest guards."

The bandits laughed. An idiot, but a funny one. Then one of them stabbed the wanderer-and found his own dagger exactly where he had tried to hit him.

"What?" he said before falling down in pain and lost blood.

The guys with the crossbows shot at the not-so-funny idiot, but the arrows stopped mid-air, reversed course and flew back at them. Then they saw a shine of gold, and the wanderer, who now revealed that his left arm carried a small round shield that seemed made out of orange balloon skin, started laughing an evil laugh that they would NEVER forget, just as SOMETHING pushed them on their knees and started causing horrific pain.

"The Shield Hero repeats now his question: where is your loot?" the wanderer said.

* * *

As he arrived to the inn Deathmask felt satisfied for this first day on the new job. Then he saw Ren's party (and that Ren was wearing a jack of plates with an outer chest plate and a ridge helmet no different from his own), and decided to join them for the night. Considering all the stories about wicked women trying to take revenge for being foiled he had grown up with and that he _had_ called Myne a prostitute in public, he needed witnesses to confirm that what he'd do to her expected assassins was self defense.

"Why should we let you mooch off?" the one woman in the party demanded to know.

"The bounties of four bandit gangs say I'm no moocher." Deathmask replied, as, even with his long-term plan to screw over anyone trying to screw HIM over had him give the loot to the guards, he still had made off with two thousand silver coins, one of which he had exchanged for copper in case he needed small change and a couple hundreds he had exchanged for gold in case he had to show off. Such as right now. "And I'd like to pass the night with you, I expect a certain idiot sending me some assassins, and I want witnesses for when I kill them. Tomorrow I'll leave."

"If it's just for tonight, I see no problem." Ren said.

* * *

It had been a good night preceded by an interesting evening. According to Ren's party, that world's main religion worshiped the Legendary Heroes-but Melromarc, a country racist toward demihumans, was the seat of the Church of the Three Heroes, a splinter denomination that worshiped the Sword, Spear and Bow Heroes and considered the Shield Hero the devil due the first one having a preference for demihumans. Deathmask had a lot of fun with the face of Ren's female companion, a member of the Church, when he pointed out that their hostility just made the Shield Heroes turn to the demihumans, just as with her tears after he had dissected her arguments. Conversely, the nearby demihuman-majority Silt Welt mostly worshiped the Shield Hero. That explained why so many mistrusted him the moment they saw the Shield.

Then, on the morning, as he was carving himself a wooden frisbee, some people in the uniform of the castle guards arrived with urgent news for Ren-and tried to arrest Deathmask as an attempted rapist. Keyword-attempted.

"Seriously, you fakers should try and come up with better lies." Deathmask said as he lifted their battered leader from his neck.

"Wait, I know him-he really is a castle guard." the knight of the party said.

"So, a corrupt guard. Even worse."

"And this scroll actually bears the king's seal."

That convinced Deathmask to let the guard drop, electing instead to read the scroll. Then, as he couldn't read the local language, had the knight read it out, confirming that they did have orders from the king to arrest Deathmask for an attempted rape he would have committed the previous night.

"But-it's impossible, I kept an eye on him all night!" the churchgoer shouted.

"Then I DID need witnesses." Deathmask said. "You guards, stand up now! We're going to the castle and hear who dares to falsely accuse a Hero, and why. And none of you is going to tell around about my whereabouts this last night unless I ask you, we don't know who is on this plot."

And with that, Deathmask, feeling insulted for a child of the Everpregnant Mother accusing him of such a crime-a sign of mental weakness, in his book-led the guards and Ren's party back to the castle.

 _Author note_

This chapter's title is a reference to an Italian proverb: "The mother of idiots is always pregnant".

Why, yes, Deathmask can use some powerful telekinesis. Enough to throw poor Shunrei off a cliff while he was near the Hellmouth.

Deathmask's opinion on divine protection is based on countless examples in the Greek myth, where heroes only got tools but had to do the job by themselves (see Odysseus dealing with her wife's suitors: he had Zeus and Athena's protection AND orders from them to slaughter them all, and all he got was the ability to shift into an old man and the names of a couple loyal servants. Not that he needed more), and his own experience, where Athena's protection gave HIM a Gold Cloth, a fancy house, and a terrifying training that made him incredibly powerful.

As I said, I'm going mostly with the Italian dub of _Saint Seiya_. Where, aside from all the bits where Saints showed advanced knowledge of the most unexpected subjects inherited from the original, Seiya, of all people, could quote the Divine Comedy from memory at a very appropriate moment, and even the lowest mook spoke in a rather educated manner. Apparently, Athena wants her soldiers to know a lot of things.

Of all _Saint Seiya_ characters, Deathmask is one of the few who NEVER loses his helmet.

Deathmask's referring to the Latin Monetary Union, where a number of states minted their gold and silver coins to the same standard to facilitate trade, going on from 1865 to 1927 (even if was already inactive before formal disbandment). It failed in the face of changing prices of metals and insufficient precautions against human nature, with World War I making it effectively defunct until the member states could be bothered to finish it off.

Seriously, ever wondered why Athena, goddess of warfare, despises weapons in _Saint Seiya_? Doesn't make much sense… Unless, of course, they're worse than useless for her Saints. After all, Marin is an excellent swordswoman (and used it to train Seiya), any Saint who find themselves wielding a weapon show excellent skills with it, and Athena herself wields a weapon…

The jack of plates is a type of European armor made of two layers of heavy cloth with small iron plates sewn between the layers.


	3. A Nagging Feeling

As I see him, Deathmask is a well educated and intelligent man, who just happens to have been in contact with Death and the Dead more than it's healthy… And have the temper of Hercules himself. And that temper is going to show up.

By the way, started publishing a series of (silly) omake for this series. If you need a good laugh, check it out.

 _ **Chapter 03: A Nagging Feeling**_

Deathmask knew exactly what was happening: the king of Melromarc was trying to frame him as a rapist. It was a classic, and in hindsight he should have seen it coming. He also knew how to dismantle it-it wasn't hard if one kept a clear head-and use the whole thing to gain control of the king, with the accuser tortured to death as a bonus. That was why, after waiting for Ren and his party to reach the throne room first, he entered himself by throwing the gates open while showing righteous anger rather than the annoyance he felt for both that and the nagging feeling of missing something important.

"Who dares to levy false accuses on me?!" he demanded.

The king was caught by surprise by his entrance, but recovered immediately and tried to continue his scheme: "Silence! You stand accused of attempted rape, and you will answer for it!"

"With what evidence is the Hero of the Shield, your guest, accused?"

That caught the king up short. As common as it was, the false rape accusation wasn't easily proven, and as a guest and a Hero Deathmask could not be simply punished if he questioned it. King Aultclay had clearly not thought things through. What the Gold Saint didn't know was why the king was so scared.

"YOU DARE TO ACCUSE MYNE OF LYING?!" Motoyasu shouted.

Deathmask quickly realized why the king was so scared: it was his daughter's life on the line. Then he registered the rest: his host's daughter was the accuser, Motoyasu believed the little girl in prostitute clothes over the guy he should know was too sure of himself to commit rape, and, worse of all, they insinuated he would feel even the slightest attraction to the wandering insult to anything heroes and similar, like Athena's Saints, Poseidon's Mariners, Odin's God Warriors, and even Hades' Specters, stood for.

It was a minor miracle that Deathmask's punch simply knocked Motoyasu out, or that he didn't massacre everyone.

"Let me get this straight-I try and save you from your own lack of preparedness, and not only you levy such a false accusation on the Hero summoned to save this land, but you insult everyone's intelligence by not even trying to gather evidence?!" he bellowed, absent-mindedly noticing that the Bow Hero was considering his words and some nobles were trying to hide their snickers. "I ought to have you quartered! Be grateful I have a schedule to keep in slaughtering bandits, or I wouldn't be as merciful as I am now!"

And with that he piledrived the girl before demanding to the king if there was anything else and, when he confirmed there wasn't, leaving.

* * *

"FANCULO!" one of the three wanderers shouted. "Fanculo to my temper and everything! When will I get another chance?!"

"Never?" the lead bandit said as they came out of the woods. "Don't worry, it's going to be painless."

The wanderers-the one covered with a hooded cloak, the young boy wearing winged boots, and the regal-looking old man-looked at the bandits as if they were a joke, and not even a funny one.

Then the hooded one _moved_ -and next thing the bandit leader knew, the wanderer had bit his teeth off. Then the pain started, as the hooded one killed all his companions but one by spitting the teeth at them and used the threat of the same to have the survivor indicate him the location of their hideout, before tearing him apart.

* * *

"My word, I had not seen that trick in centuries. Magnificently executed."

"Thank you, Conductor of Souls." Deathmask replied. "May I ask why your Divine Father and you have come to this world?"

"We wondered why did the magic called for you-and we had your answer. Now we wonder if Nemesis is involved. And why you didn't massacre them all, given that Myne is-"

"Please don't tell me, Magnificent Herald. For if I knew for certain I would have to exact revenge for broken Hospitality, and that would weaken their punishment."

"As expected by the second cruelest servant of the Goddess of Wisdom. Continue as you do, for you honor your Goddess. Farewell."

With that, Deathmask observed the two gods disappear and return where they had come from, leaving him wondering what kind of fame he had if Zeus and Hermes came to see who had done what to deserve him. And what was that nagging feeling.

* * *

"Lord Angelo! What brings you here?"

Deathmask's smile was not completely motivated by acting or how his plan to have the locals' goodwill as a shield against the crazy king was working in spite of his temper ruining his play at court. After all, being the Cancer Saint steeped in death by his very existence meant his presence wasn't exactly well liked most of the times, even when it wasn't motivated by his duties, and his cavalier attitude and the fact few aside from Shaka and his affiliates got the ACTUAL point of the wailing heads (well, most of them) certainly didn't make him better liked, so the people actually appreciating his presence was a nice change of pace.

"Just some sales and an evaluation." he replied as he gave the pharmacist one of his bottles. "How good are these?"

"A new recipe for your medicines, I take." the pharmacist said, remembering how Deathmask had come to him to sell some of the medicines he had prepared in his spare time with the Shield's power. "Let me see."

"Of course. Take your time, you are the expert for this." Deathmask said. Then he felt the sudden arrival of so many weak Cosmos, and realized what exactly that nagging feeling was about. "You have to be kidding me… How did I miss THAT?!"

"Something wrong, lord Angelo?" the pharmacist asked.

"Nothing I can't fix. May I use the latrine room for a few minutes?"

"Of course, lord Angelo."

* * *

"Where are the Legendary Heroes?!" Fitoria shouted as she saw none of them appearing to take on the Wave that was attacking a city in Faubley.

"I don't know, my lady!" the commander of the local militia replied. "They should be already here!"

"Assuming they even know, as the king of Melromarc is just the kind of guy who may decide to not tell them to have a military advantage-or just out of hatred against the Shield Hero." a cloaked man commented.

Fitoria and the commander nodded, Fitoria making some comments on how far her old friend had fallen-then they realized the cloaked man had appeared out of nowhere.

"Who are you, and how did you come here under my nose?!" Fitoria demanded.

"I am a professional who has limited abilities to move between dimensions, and who now understands his nagging feeling about missing something. Good thing I can sense this kind of things…" the cloaked man replied. Then he lifted an arm, revealing the Legendary Shield, and cried out two words: " _ **SEKISHIKI MEIKAIHA!**_ "

Fitoria felt _something_ , like medianic magic but incredibly more powerful, and then saw all the monsters just lie down and die, the flying ones falling down, just as the rip in the sky disappeared. Then she turned at the Shield Hero, but he had already disappeared.

"Don't worry, for I shall always be there, I and those who will come to find me." his voice echoed.

"And Cane is antagonizing THAT…" Fitoria commented.

"What did just happen?!" the commander asked.

"The new Shield Hero is a necromancer and a user of the Power of Miracles beyond any I have ever seen and has ripped away the souls of the invaders, invaders with bodies too weak to survive his spell."

"A necromancer?!"

"One who knows what is allowed, or he'd have been killed well before he could become so powerful. Don't worry, he won't raise an army of living dead."

* * *

"So, how's the medicine?" Deathmask asked after coming out of the latrine room he had used to mask his teleportation.

"Good quality, and growing."

As he contracted the sales' price with the merchant, Deathmask decided he needed a companion NOW. Even if it was someone like Aiolia's annoying servant, he needed to bounce idea with them-he would have not missed that the Waves of Destruction were happening in all the local countries otherwise.

 _Author note_

Deathmask should have seen the frame-up coming due the sheer amount of mythical heroes who had been accused of that (usually by a married woman that had tried to have sex with them and made the accuse when they refused). Being Italian and a servant of Athena he would be most familiar with the story of Potiphar's wife and Joseph and that of Phaedra and Hippolytus, but the list is truly enormous. They all have in common the fact they're believed only due extenuating circumstances (Potiphar believed his wife because Joseph left her his clothes in the hurry of escaping her and still had enough doubts to go easy on him, and Phaedra killed herself out of shame at Hippolytus finding out her feelings and made her accusation in a suicide note), and he knows that well.

Deathmask insists so much on hospitality, and is right about it, because most pre-industrial societies have strong codes about that, and the ancient Greeks were fanatics about that (see the Trojan War: most of the Greek kings went because Agamemnon, their overlord, told them to, but they wouldn't have persevered for ten years had Paris not been a guest when he kidnapped Helen).

According to Cancer Deathtoll in _Saint Seiya: Next Dimension_ , the reason for the wailing heads in the Temple of the Giant Crab is quite different from what Deathmask say. Knowing Deathmask and the fact he's not stupid, it's likely that _some_ of his heads are indeed the souls of some of his victims collected on missions, specifically those that would serve well as trophies or were simply particularly irritant before he killed them, but most come from the other reason.

If the body of _Shiryuu_ (pre-Seventh Sense, but still above the level of the Silver Saints) was giving out during his fight with Deathmask only because the soul was at the Yomutsu Hisaraka, then there's no way in hell a bunch of monsters that Deathmask could destroy by sneezing at them would survive. And only now I realize I've made him that much more terrifying.

Yes, I believe Deathmask could cause a zombie apocalypse-and is nowhere near stupid enough to even joke about that.


End file.
